Every year, the WWE promises that they will be releasing the biggest WrestleMania yet. WrestleMania XL may live up to that moniker. This year featured the biggest storyline yet which pitted family legacies — the Samoan Bloodline and the Rhodes family. The tensions were high during both nights when we saw Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns headline both nights and with the odds stacked up against Rhodes, against all odds, he came out victorious and finally finished his story. With that chapter seemingly finished and Rhodes now champion, there somehow is a decline in the huge fanbase that supported him.

Rhodes has finally won but people seem to have missed Roman’s reign all of a sudden. Just a few months ago people wanted him to lose but now the biggest heel in WWE has left a gigantic hole. It seems like people have lost interest in Rhodes as champion so quickly with a huge question in most of our heads — “What now?”

Why has the WWE Universe suddenly changed in their reception of the hero, Cody Rhodes? In this article, we aim to discuss exactly that.

Heel Champion Are Way More Complex

We feel the heaviness of Roman Reign’s sudden withdrawal from the WWE because admittedly as a heel or villain, he was simply the best at what he did. He barely defended the title and during the times that he did, he was surely not alone. There were several instances in which Reigns got huge help from either the Usos or Solo Sikoa. As a champion, however, Reigns was far more complex as a character. We see this in movies and TV shows as well. A story is only as great as its biggest antagonist. Honestly, heroes and underdog stories like that of Rhodes are nice to witness up to a certain point. Once the victory has been achieved it usually goes downhill from there until a new threat or change in character arises.

A great example is the effect of the MCU’s Infinity Saga. After Endgame, the dust settled, our heroes one but the interest in the stories after dropped. Until now we have been waiting for that big moment when things will become interesting again.

In the WWE the heel champions honestly have far better storylines and more room to wiggle around. They are the type of characters that fans hate so much that in turn, they love them. We saw this with Edge, JBL, Triple H, The Rock, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, and many many more. 

The Stereotypical Good Guy

I don’t want to call it as early as now but I have my fingers crossed that Cody won’t end up being a very boring good guy champion. A great example of this is John Cena and even Rey Mysterio. John Cena was a heel during the start of his career but ever since he won the championship back in WrestleMania 21, he has always been a babyface, seemingly a marketing strategy to attract women and a younger audience. Rey Mysterio is also another superstar that fits this mold, once a good guy, always a good guy. Even when his son went against him, he still portrayed the babyface that people know him for.

Honestly nothing wrong with these guys and what they stand for and all. It just tends to get boring at times. I’m honestly excited and hoping for a Rhodes as a heel transition but this may not be something that we will get anytime soon. But a guy can hope and dream.

A Stagnation in the Storyline

As of now, one of the biggest problems that we see is the difficulty of the creative team, specifically Paul Levesque’s (Triple H) job to create a new story and path for the people’s hero, Cody. He’s finished his so-called story but what’s next is uncertain. Currently, they’re pitting him against superstars that don’t necessarily draw out the most excitement from fans. These are also matches that are quite predictable in the outcome, unless something truly shocking occurs like AJ Styles beating Rhodes immediately, just like that. There’s nothing all that interesting as the hype and excitement have honestly run out like a quick flame.

This means the WWE has to build the interest and intrigue once again — seemingly from scratch. It’s fine and will honestly take time, that’s understandable but the WWE may lose a couple of fans along the way in doing so. For Rhodes, the way I see it, people are just waiting for something huge to come along. The Rock, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, any of these guys may bring us back to glue our eyes to Rhodes’ title reign, but for now, it honestly feels dry and boring to be quite honest.

Only time can truly tell how the landscape of the WWE will look like given all the changes and for now, all we truly can do is wait and see how it will all go down from here on out.

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